Not quite there

I had plans for this week. Not particularly ambitious plans and yet I didn't follow through.

Here's the stats of what I did do:
Tuesday - 4 miles: This was one of those runs. From start to finish I felt sluggish. Every step felt 10 times more difficult than normal. It was a run where I had to pull out nearly every motivational trick I have in my admittedly slim arsenal.

• I broke the run into mini-milestones - I'll run to that light; I'll run to that water fountain; I'll run to that road sign.
• I focussed on my form - Head up; Shoulders down; Hands relaxed. I pretended I was back in Melbourne in my running group and Jodie was taking us through our paces (I miss those guys!).
• I repeated running mantras
• I really listened to the lyrics of songs on my iPod (usually it's just "white noise" in the background) so I was focussing on the songs and not on the running.

Ultimately, it was all worth it. I know every run won't be easy and you need the "difficult" ones to help you improve. And looking at the end result, I finished in 44:03 which equates to 6:50/km (yes, I'm mixing my measurement systems) which is a decent pace for me. That pace should feel hard when I'm coming back from a two to three month layoff.

Sunday - 6 miles: This was not a solid run but overall I'm pretty happy with it. I headed south on the Lake path today which I think is a good plan for going forward as I did most of the first half of my run into the wind and then had it at my back on the return leg. Much easier than the alternative! I also tried my first run in a long sleeve top. In retrospect, it was too much and short sleeves would have been fine, but you live and learn, right? The downside of the run is a cranky knee that is currently seeing some ice. Fingers crossed it's just temporary.

And that's it for the week - can you see what's missing? Run number three. I was planning on going out on Thursday but just never did it. It was cold and wet and I just slacked off. Yet more personal running lessons learned this week -
1) don't let yourself get overly cold during the day because it sends you into hibernation mode - all I could think of on the way home was a hot high carb meal. I scoffed a bowl of pasta quick smart but that put an end to running for the day.
2) there are no rules about when you can run. In my head, there's first thing in the morning or there's right after work. In reality, there are many more opportunities.

This week I hope to get in four runs - a couple of shorter sessions to start introducing some speed work plus my usual longer (because it's all relative) runs. Hopefully I can utilise some of my learnings from this week and hit all four.